Descended From Nations
by Ootori Tatsu
Summary: Story based loosely around the Percy Jackson series. Idea stolen by the creator of Children of the Nations. Bella, a forbidden child of the Axis must redeem her father's name and halt the beginning of a third world war. Rating not changing.
1. Chapter 1

**Bwahahaha! I am now an IDEA THEIF! **

**I thought this would be a great idea to write but I don't want to follow the almost exact story line of Percy Jackson like the story "Children of the Nations". Don't get me wrong, it's a good story, kind of like RR's with some differences. Is the writer of said story OCs going to be in here? More than likely not unless she reads this and gives me the go ahead.**

**Enjoy!~**

_**Chapter 1**_

My amber eyes glare back at me as I gently push the unruly piece of hair sticking up from my head. This never happened before. Was it the way I slept? Oh, great, now it was curling. If I couldn't get this thing down then I would attract more stares than usual. I say usual because my hair on top was bright blonde but halfway down my head it turned auburn then straight brown.

"Honey, if you don't hurry you'll be late for school!" I mutter under my breath as my mother calls up the stairs. I give the hair a sharp tug and immediately my body flushes in heat in a pleasurable way. Maybe I shouldn't pull it in public.

Grabbing my bag I rush down the stairs, my hiker boots thudding on the carpet. Mom was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and looked up with a smile. The smile falls from her pretty face as she looks at the curious piece of brown hair sticking up defiantly.

"Bella, what is that?" She turns my head from side to side but doesn't touch it. I shrug and moments later she breaks into a wide grin and wraps me in a hug. "My baby's growing up! Already reached puberty! Who'd of thought?" She swings me around and sets me down. I angle a glare at her.

"Mom. A hair curl can't possibly count for puberty. Are we going to go now? Before I miss school. Not that I care." I expect a reprimand for sassing off and glaring but she just chuckles and mutters something like 'just like your father.' I just shake my head and walk double pace to the car.

We drive to the school in silence. Mom was the school secretary which meant I could not get away with _anything._ Not even falling asleep in class. Which happened often. I glance over at her as we pull into the lot, still a little early for school.

"Hey mom?" She looks over at me expectantly. "Who… is my dad? I know he's someone important. You tell me that all the time." She looks away from me to look out the window. Just like I knew she would.

"Sweetie, can't this wait till later?" She asks, drumming her fingers slowly on the steering wheel.

"Mom you said that last time, and the time before that, so I'm sure that's what you'll say next time. I want fucking answers." This time I saw the hand before it slapped into my face. It happened whenever I did it around my mom. "Fine." I say quietly, kicking the door open and slamming it shut.

I hear mom call for me but I refuse to turn around. She apologized whenever she hit me but I knew it wouldn't stop her from doing it again the next time I said something profane. I stalk past a shady looking character to the school's front gates. But as I take a step inside he grabs my shoulder and yanks me back.

"What's your fucking deal dumb ass?" I shout, turning. He looks down at me with cold eyes.

"Just as I suspected. You're coming with me." He starts tugging me to the lot and my mom jumps out in front of him.

"Just where the hell do you think you're taking my daughter?" His grip tightens on me as I try to wiggle away desperately.

"So she's yours? Then you know where I'm taking her. This will be a lot easier on both of you if you just tell me her who her father is." He pushes me forward and my mother shoots him one of her death glares. She was so good at giving them that I shrank away even though she wasn't looking at me.

"I…don't know." My mother says and the man loosens his grip. But I could tell from the look in my mother's eyes she was lying. She knew but she wasn't going to tell him. But this man didn't know that.

"I assume Korea. Maybe Greece or Turkey?" My mother shakes her head as I look back at the man. If he wanted to know my father then why was he naming countries? But despite my curiosity my skin still crawled when he mentioned Turkey. "Either way, it's not safe for her here. I'm going to have to take her."

My mother's face turned into fear and anger. "You have no right!"

"I've had to fend off three monsters just this morning. They know she's here." The man cuts her off.

My mother stands there then steps back. "Alright, but let me give her something first." She heads over to the car and pulls out several books and an expensive looking fedora. I knew mom had connections with the mafia and I had seen the hat countless times. She comes back and places the hat on my head and pushes the books into my arms.

"Take care of grandpa's hat okay? And I wish it wouldn't have come to this but read these books and you'll understand." She straightens the fedora which really didn't go with what I wore but whatever. But here was the confusing part, my grandfather wasn't even remotely Italian nor did he deal with the mafia. So what was my mom saying? Whatever it was the look in her eyes warned me not to say anything.

The man looks around uneasily. "We have to be on our way. More monsters will gather here shortly." My mom says her final goodbyes and the man leads me away.

~One Hour Later~

I look at the five books in my lap after I sit down in my seat on the plane. The man, Mr. Luebe, sat in the seat behind me. Tracing my fingers over the first book cover I read "The Lightning Thief" which was all spelled in Italian. It wouldn't be a problem reading it because for some reason I could read anything in Italian as easily as I read English.

Opening it I find my mother's pretty handwriting scribbled onto the first page. It read, "To my precious Bella, I had hoped this would never happen like your father said it would. I had thought keeping you out of his world would keep you safe. This story was written by someone like yourself and like my father before me. It is merely a cover story and I have written over the parts that have been changed. I pray that this helps. I love you. P.S. If ever you run into any danger I want you to run. Run fast and run hard."

That was all it said. I sense Mr. Luebe looking over the seat separating us and I slam it shut. Something in the back of my head told me reading it around other people would get me into trouble. Mr. Luebe politely asks the man sitting next to me to switch seats. To my disappointment he complied.

"So, what you got there?" He says after sitting down. I tilt the hat lower over my face and lean back.

"Books." Something told me that reverting to cussing him out as I was wont to do would not go well for me so I tried to keep it polite.

"I can see it's the Percy Jackson series but I'm not quite sure what language that is."

I let the conversation drop into silence. "So, wanna guess where we're going?" His voice alone made me think he was close to acting like my best friend ever. This would be new to me because I didn't have any friends. Consequence of being a spitfire, constantly angry, no touch bitch.

"Not California." I mutter. He leans back in his seat and looks up. If I didn't find him so annoying I would probably call him attractive. Despite being almost twice my age that is. He had short light blonde hair with natural golden highlights and sparkling blue eyes.

"Correct. We're going to Hawaii, the only place that's protected in this nation from monsters." As he talked he flipped a high school ring around in his hand. On it was a large sapphire with the engraving of an eagle on its side. "Once there we'll head to camp. Then we'll put you in your father's area."

"So you've figured out my father already?"

"I would have to say North Italy. Since he's the only Axis who escaped the swearing."

"The swearing?"

"After WW2 West Germany, East Germany, Japan, and South Italy had to swear they wouldn't have any more children since it was them that started the war. North Italy sided with the Allies near the closing of the war but his brother refused to switch sides. Surprising since Romano is known to be fickle. He probably wanted to prove a point to his brother."

I gaze out the window as he speaks. It sounded like these people were immortal. Somehow those terms seemed cruel.

~Later~

Mr. Luebe had a truck parked in the airport lot and he motioned for me to climb in. After a few minutes of driving the roads disappeared and Mr. Luebe turned down a dirt path. After what seemed like half an hour he parked at a tree stump in the middle of the forest. He hops out and motions for me to do the same. I do so hesitantly and follow him over to a huge tree.

Surprisingly there were several more trucks parked nearby. Mr. Luebe pulled back a few vines on the front of the tree to reveal a button, which he presses. A moment later I find myself jumping backwards as an elevator door opens on the side of the tree. He motions for me to get into the elevator and I do so with a longing glance back at the truck.

As the doors closed Ke$ha's song "Take It Off" started playing from speakers near the top. Mr. Luebe hummed along in perfect time while I stood there in embarrassment. As the song ends the elevator dings and I spring out of the doors as they slide open. Since I'm so clumsy it would figure that I would trip climbing out.

And of course it would have to be right in front of a group of kids. I hear muttering around me as I keep my face buried into the floor, embarrassed. "I see Artie was successful, as expected from my eldest son." I curl up on myself as Mr. Luebe walks past to converse with his "father".

"Aren't you silly? You can't stay on the floor the whole time there chica." I slowly glance up to come face to face with the most handsome Spanish guy I have ever seen. He had perfectly tan skin, green-blue eyes, and slightly curly black hair. He lets out a whistle as I try to make myself smaller. "And pretty as well." My face flares up into a small blush and he chuckles.

"Aw, she's so cute!~" Reflexively, as he reaches out to touch me, I launch my fist and connect with the inside of his elbow.

"Careful Santo, looks like an Italy sister with a bit of a bite." Someone says behind him. The first person who had spoke lets out a loud hmm sound and I look up at him.

He looked like Mr. Luebe but four times as attractive with a small cowlick of hair that stuck from the front of his head. Heck, he even looked younger. "Somehow she doesn't strike me as one of Feliciano's daughter. But then again she could be one of the three fourths deminations." He says, lowering his glasses at me.

The air seemed to hold an electrical charge as I stood up and a moment later smoke rose up from a spot near the speaker. With an explosive pop the smoke dissipated to reveal someone slightly shorter wearing what had to be an expensive Italian suit. He had rich auburn hair cut short that had a curl just like mine sticking up from it. His deep amber eyes flicked to the speaker who smiled as he frowned.

"Hey South. I'm guessing it's been a month already?"

"Yes America, and England said he would have your head if you weren't on time for that meeting." So these two were countries. So did that mean that 'South' was South Italy? America disperses like how South Italy had come in and South Italy looks around at the crowd.

"What are all of you looking at? Don't you have business elsewhere?" The campers mutter a few apologies and walk away quickly. Including Mr. Luebe which left me alone with this guy. I find myself looking away as he walks up to me. "Tell me, what is your name?" I look back up at him, the expression in his eyes unreadable.

"Bella Gerhardt." Before I could back away he wraps me in a hug and kisses the top of my head.

"It's nice to finally meet you, my daughter."

**A/N **

**And we're done with the first chapter which took far longer than I would have liked to write.**

**People are probably mad that I'm not finishing up on OPP and that's because I'm waiting on someone to finish some fan art I promised I would link in the last chapter. And as for DH I constantly have someone walking in on me and since the whole chapter is smut I'm having difficulty writing it without someone seeing.**

**Ciao!~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. I seriously thought this story was going to be skipped right over. I even had someone say they liked this one better than "Children of the Nations" so now I'm thinking there might be a story war.**

**I probably won't win since I'm mostly German and everyone knows we don't win wars. We **_**almost **_**win wars.**

**But anyway in this chapter we meet James. He's an unclaimed child of Germany which makes him kind of like Bella. Since she's half Romano of course she's not going to get along with him too well.**

**And as for Santo, since someone asked "Doesn't Spain have brown hair and green eyes?" Well, if I'm going to surround this story's details around details in the Percy Jackson book series I can't make them look **_**just like**_** their parents. Thus the reason why only a small section of Bella's hair is the shade of auburn for Romano's hair. **

**Long A/N is long. Sorry.**

_**Chapter 2**_

It seemed as soon as he touched me South Italy pulled away, glancing around suspiciously. "I'm sorry to do this to you but I'm not able to claim you right now. If I do then a third world war will start up. Since I'm the camp's standing nation this month I'm in charge of where you go." His hand lingers as it slides off my shoulder. He begins to walk away and motions for me to follow.

I do so in a rush because I knew nothing about the place I was in. It seemed to stretch forever. The first area we past was America's. It was painfully obvious due to all the flags displayed. The area after kind of shifted in front of my eyes and I couldn't keep track of the few people wandering the halls. "Canada's children." Romano calls over his shoulder as we walk along.

We looked at all the major houses and with each one we passed Romano said a curse word. So that's where my colorful vocabulary came from. As we past the N. Italy area Romano slowed to a halt, a glare blazing in his eyes. He probably resented that his brother was permitted to have children. Several ran past me without a second glance and came back hauling a pot of water. Whatever it was for I would not find out because S. Italy walked on.

It was probably the last areas. All the dorm areas were dark and the buildings appeared old. Hanging in the center of the hall was a large, tattered Italian flag, the red more emphasized than the green. Here Romano turned into the hall. It didn't look like it but the area was warm and relaxing like sitting in the sun on a slightly breezy summer day.

As I watch Romano lifts his hand and the area blares into light. Small streams of water ran in front of planters that looked recently cared for. Romano stoops down next to an empty spot of earth on one of the planters and crumbled the dirt in his hand. A moment later a ready for harvest tomato plant stood up.

"Well. This is home. Whoever is the standing nation when you first arrive is the area you go to if you're undetermined. Which reminds me… HEY IDIOTA! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE TO MEET YOUR NEW ROOM MATE!" I find myself covering my ears. A moment later a tall blonde kid in an old army jacket walks around the corner. His skin seemed naturally pale and the ice blue eyes flicked up at me from the book he was reading.

His hair, which was trimmed short and combed back, was a dark gold color. There was a tiny rat tail hanging behind his left ear which seemed so out of place on such an organized looking person. He opens his mouth to say something but I beat him to it.

"NAZI!" I shout without really processing what I was saying. Something in my mind demanded that I say it and I had no clue why. His carefully guarded gaze descends into a glare. Next to me Romano lets out a cough.

"For once his father and I are on agreeable terms. I would not wish to quarrel with Germany because he can just simply kick my ass. Be nice. I want no maiming, injuries, or man slaughter alright. James, take care of her before the others think there might be something up." With that Romano disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to actually say that." I glance away.

"Then perhaps we should just forget about it. My name is James Lesseps. Unclaimed son of Germany. And you must be?" Just to be safe I glance around. "Don't worry. The bell would go off if someone not part of the house walked in."

I shoot a glare at him to say that I knew no one was around. Stiffening my shoulders I stretch out my hand. "Bella Gerhardt. Unclaimed daughter of South Italy and Romano."

He takes my hand and instead of shaking it like I thought he would he leaned down and kissed my knuckles. So in accordance with my behavioral hard drive I yanked backwards in an attempt to snatch my hand back. Jesus, what was this dude's deal? Was he fucking coming on to me?

Instead of hopefully tugging my hand loose I managed to fall backwards. And for the second time that day I enjoyed the company of the floor. "Gross. Are you some kind of fucking pervert?"

He chuckles as I drag myself off the floor. "Sorry. Old habits die hard. I forgot that you're only supposed to do it to a lady. It's painfully clear that's not what you are." He starts walking away and I snatch up my hat that had fallen on the ground. Twisting it in my hand it turns into a large Tommy gun.

Glaring at James' retreating back I lift the weapon. "So, I'm not a woman am I?" He turns and the mocking smile falls from his face.

I get ready to pull the trigger when light tinkling sounds off in the halls. James looks past me and motions for me to put my weapon away. I twist it in the other direction and it turns into a hat again. Turning in the direction of James' stare I notice the kid from before, Santo, making his way down the hall.

"Hey sweetheart. Thought I'd find you here." He walks up next to me and shoots James a warning glare. As he comes to a halt he reaches for my hand and I tug it back to shove him away.

"I'm not your anything!" I take a step back to create more distance. Which accidentally lead to me bumping into James. "I'm going to go find a bed room." I shove off and start walking to the nearest door.

Behind me I could hear Santo start up what sounded like the starting of a nasty argument. I decide not to bother listening to it as I slam the door behind me. Who did this Santo kid think he was? Maybe it had something to do with his nation parent.

I flip the switch on the wall next to me and lights illuminate a hallway that looked like it belonged in a high class hotel. Except for the dust that is. It covered everything from the floor to the handles and the light fixtures that glowed warmly on the wall.

Deciding to walk further down the hall I choose a door near the end. Second to last and on the right. Upon opening it I find a large dark red four poster bed placed in the middle of the far wall in a room large enough to be a penthouse. A desk sat near the window which looked over what I would have guessed as the streets of Pisa.

"Too bad it's not Venice huh?" A moment later the scene outside the window flickered into what was unmistakably the canals of Venice. I let out a whistle and wander around the room. Surprisingly the carpet in here was plush and had the appearance of being recently shampooed. "This room seems pleasant enough. I just hope it's far away from that bastard James."

After sliding my hand across the comforter I pull it away clean then flop down. Maybe this was all a dream and I would wake up. This was not actually happening and I would wake to the sound of my mother laughing on the phone as she made dinner. Dragging my cell phone from my pocket I flip it open and dial her number.

"Hello, you have reached Elizabeth Gerhardt's automated phone service. Please leave a message or try back later." There was a short beep after the message.

"Hey mom. It's Bella just calling to say I'm alright. Guess what? I met dad today. Although it seems strange he seems like an alright guy. Well, for a mob boss, or at least he looks like one… I miss you mom. Call me back later? Love you, bye." The end beep signals the end of the message and I toss the phone on the floor.

Sitting down on the chair at the desk I notice a letter with my name written on the front. I open it and a key falls out with a small slip of paper that read, "Look in the closet. I want you to look nice for tonight. – Romano" I fiddle with the key, flipping it around in my fingers. Did all the nations write like that? Maybe it had something to do with not getting too personal with their children.

I stand up and head to one of two doors in the room and open it slowly to reveal a high class 20's style bathroom with a walk in shower and a small hot tub. Closing the door once again I shuffle across the plush carpet to what had to be the closet.

The large walk-in closet had dresses ranging in every color all in 20's style against one wall. On the other wall was a range of pictures. All were faded and yellow and all of the people in them were wearing suits and dresses.

One face, near the end, was quiet familiar. I had seen it in plenty of American history books. Wiping the glass I find myself looking into the face of Al Capone.

**A/N**

**And the second chapter is done. Yes, I know, it's short.**

**Before everyone asks, yes, Al Capone is a son of Romano. Which also means he's Bella's half brother. **

**Since they name the weapons in RR books I'll go ahead and name Bella's gun in the next chapter. Spoiler, it belonged to Capone.**

**And a tid bit of funny information I have a kid in my P.E. class named Tim Capone. I'm not sure if they're related though.**

**And look! I finished this chapter on mah birthday! So may this be my present to you.**

**Ciao!~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Update is LAAAAATTTTTEEEEEE! I apologize. Truth be told I was planning on just scrapping this story but getting a review from the person who's story I based this off of I'll go ahead and write more. Also, I get to include her characters as well since she gave me the go ahead so they will be appearing in later chapters.**

**Enjoy!~**

_**Chapter 3**_

Deciding it was not the best course of action to dwell on the fact that I was related to one of America's most notorious killers I comb through the clothing rack. Romano had said he wanted me to look 'nice' but I really didn't have a good idea for what he wanted. I never went to school dances or any formal events. Shrugging I pull out a red dress.

It was the type you would find in the movies, red silk, form fitting, and a slit up the side. A dancing dress, one you would wear for tango. Too fancy for me. Putting it back I find a black blouse with slit sleeves and haul out a pair of dark washed blue jeans. I quickly get dressed and not a moment after I had slipped my shoes back on a bell sounds off in the distance.

Someone knocks on my door and I get a feeling that it was probably James. I fling it open to find myself faced with a smiling Santo instead. "Hey there lovely lady. May I take you to lunch?" Something tells me by the way he speaks that he must be a lady killer. Since I had no interest of having my heart smashed into the ground I just push past him.

"No thanks, I can get there myself." I say over my shoulder as he stands there, dumbfounded as to how I could just walk away from him. Never the less he chased after me down the hall and out the door. As I head out of my area I cast a glance upward, gazing at the tattered flag. Was it just me or was it starting to look newer then last time?

Shaking my head I head into the main hall and follow the herd of other, what did they call them? Campers, that's right. Santo was still following me and chattering my ear off like I was the only thing that mattered to him. Several of the girl campers I passed shot me glares which I returned and resulted in most of them looking away and walking faster. I could give a mean glare.

Finally I had enough. "Santo. SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP. I don't know you; I don't want to know you. Fuck, you probably just want in my bed. Goodbye!" He stops at my, what must have looked sudden, outburst. Letting out something between a frustrated sigh and scream I thunder off. As I head into the dining area I notice a huge buffet situated in the center of the room.

Anything I could possibly want was there, main course wise. That and a side section in the back of the room, which was huge as well, had dessert from all around the world. Trying to get one smiling idiot out of my head I approach the buffet and fix myself a plate of pasta. "Ve!~ Are you a new sister?" Someone asks at my elbow and I turn to see a girl slightly shorter than me with light brown hair and hazel eyes. What mainly caught my attention was a curl coming up from the left side of her head.

"I-I'm not sure. Unclaimed." I say as I start to move off, hoping to locate somewhere I could sit by myself. The only completely empty table except for one person was pretty close to me except for one small problem. James was that one person and I was reluctant to sit near him. Each table only sat twelve people so maybe I could find a small, quiet group.

These thoughts, however, were smashed as someone lifts me into the air. "Found the new girl!" He calls cheerfully and I ponder about launching my leg into his groin which was lined up with my foot. Before I can act on my thoughts though I'm shoved into a seat at a nearby table. Immediately the chairs around me filled and the ones who had been sitting there first leave immediately.

As I take a deep breath I notice my eleven companions were all from different houses. Since they all wore something that resembled their flag it wasn't too hard to place them. Two were from the America house, three from the Hungary, two from the France house, and four were from the Spain house. At least none of them were Santo.

The one who had grabbed me first, one of the Americans, was smiling widely at me. He was about my age with light blonde hair and dark blue eyes with a natural tan. "Hi there new girl. I'm John, head of the America house." He extends a hand and several nearby Americans punched their fists into the air, all of them saying 'fuck yeah'. Rolling my eyes I turn to my plate of pasta and start eating.

"Oh, the strong silent type non?" One of the French kids, a girl with hip length, wavy blonde hair and brown eyes, said, leaning forward and tracing her finger along my arm. "I'm Celeste by the way." I just scoot a little to the side, dragging my plate with me. But Celeste was not to be deterred. "What's wrong pretty girl? I don't bite… much." As she speaks I swallow wrong and start coughing.

One of the Spanish guys smiles at me sweetly. He was younger, with tan skin, dark, chocolate brown, curly hair and pale green eyes. He looks like he's getting ready to say something but gets interrupted by one of the Hungary guys. "So tell me, what's your sexual preference?" This time I was taking a drink of water which promptly shot out of my nose, hitting the guy in the face.

"Excuse me?" I ask as I grab my nose, waiting for the stinging to subside. After a few more introductions I completely lost my patience and stood up, slamming my hands on the table. "ENOUGH! God dammit. All I wanted to do was eat my fucking dinner." Scooping up my plate I stomp over to the only table almost empty, James' table.

Closing out the others protests I sit down and shove a forkful of cooling pasta into my mouth. I notice James had looked up from his book he was reading, his glasses tilted over his nose. Which didn't make him look hot. Not one bit. Nope… okay, he was hot, but I still hated him! "What?" I say with a sneer and he just shakes his head, making his rat tail dance, and looked back down.

After awhile I notice none of the others had moved with me and I glance over. Most of them looked like they were going to have a heart attack, except for that one Spain kid. He just looked around at his companions then back at me. Slowly and unsurely he gets up and brings his plate over to my table, sitting down in a seat close to me but far enough away as to a spot where I couldn't kick him if he pulled anything.

James looks up again with a curious expression and the kid shoots his gaze downward, poking at his food nervously. After sitting there for awhile I finally can't take the Spaniard kid's silence. "Alright, who are you supposed to be?" I ask and he jumps a little.

A moment later he pulls out a notepad and scribbles something down, sliding it over to me when he finished. On it was one word. Samuel. "Sam here can't speak." Someone behind me says and I look up to see a blonde girl with low pigtails and bright green eyes and remarkable eyebrows. Samuel glares at her a little but sifts to the side a bit so the newcomer could sit down. Tied into the ends of her pig tails were union jack kerchiefs.

"Laura McLain." She says, introducing herself before continuing. "Permission to tell her what happened Sam?" Sam pouts and waves his hand through the air. "Thank you. Last year on a mission his vocal cords were damaged and they couldn't fix them surgically. And he refuses to have them worked on magically. Spanish retard." Sam shoots her a glare and she appears like she wants to say more when the screech of a loud speaker comes over the crowd.

"Alright children. It's Wednesday and you know what that means." Romano's voice says, coming from said speaker.

A thundering chorus answered him. "GUERILLA PAINTBALL!" Before I knew what was happening most of the campers on my side of the room head for the other while few from the other side came to ours. Both Sam and Laura left and I was stuck being confused.

"Guerilla paintball?" I ask, looking about.

"Unclaimed will be with the Italy house and the Japan house. America, France, and England houses will be competing against them. All others head to the spectator rooms." A horde of people filed out, leaving the room immensely diminished.

"I'll tell you the rules as we go alright?" James says, closing his book and receiving sneers from the opposite side of the room. Had he done something to make them hate him? In fact our team seemed reluctant to go near him. I could hear one of them say something along the lines 'she must be brave to be so close to James.' Another said 'courage is rare in an Italy child.'

James starts walking off first and I rush to catch up, keeping my fedora on my head. No one else moved until we were at the doorway. He takes me to a smaller room with military costumes for every era and every country.

"Since we're unclaimed we can wear any of these and not get in trouble for it." He says as he pulls down one with a plaque overhead that said Germany, WWI. Would my father mind if I wore his? I find it next to the north Italy section. It was a simple brown uniform complete with boots, the only adornments two black and gold pins that were located on the collar. The uniform was old and well worn but I would feel comfortable wearing it anyway. The plaque overhead said Romano, WW2.

Claiming a changing room I quickly get suited up and tie my hair back, twisting the fedora in my hand and watching it turn into a Tommy gun. Seeing a straight line going through it I give it a small twist and it turns into twin pistols. "What are you wearing that for?" Someone asks behind me. I turn around to see the same girl with the hair curl from before.

"Just practical." I say tugging on the sleeves a little. She tilts her head to the side with a baffled expression then smiles at me brightly.

"Okay then, whatever that means. I'm Julie by the way." She holds out her hand and I hesitantly extend mine for her to shake. Instead she grabbed me and drug me into a full out hug to which I protested. "GROUP HUG TO GREET OUR NEW SISTER!" She basically yells in my ear. A moment later a large group of kids, all looking similar to Julie were swarming me.

Finally getting myself sprung from the mob of supposed brothers and sisters I find myself falling onto the hard ground below my feet. Surprisingly none of them offered me a hand up. In fact all of them were looking at me as if they had broken something. Eyes downcast and seeming to close in on their cheery ass selves.

Glancing up clues me in. James stood in front of me. It's like the guy had a nasty aura that _everyone_ tried to avoid. In my mind I found that cruel. B-but the bastard probably deserved it. Yeah, deserved it. He sighs and offers me a hand up. I promptly smacked it away and get up on my own.

Not too far away was a small group of Asians who all looked unremarkably familiar. These must be the Japan kids. At my feet my pistols had turned back into a fedora, sliding together as if magnetized. The North Italians break into hushed murmurs as I pick up the hat and gently brush it off. I catch the word 'Ebony' on some of their lips but I blow it off.

"Pardon. It's time to start." One of the Japan kids says, walking over. He was shorter than me with glasses and short, well trimmed hair. When he glanced up I saw that his eyes were a light blue. But as soon as our eyes met he looked away and bowed to me. "Michael Esaki, it is nice to meet you daughter of the warm west."

"The pleasure is mine son of the land where the sun rises. I am Bella Gerhardt." I say, bowing back. Hey, call me what you will, but I loved Japanese culture. He looks back up at me, shock in his eyes. But they quickly go back to looking like twin still pools of water. Deep and emotionless.

James taps on my shoulder and I shoot him a sneer then follow him out of the room. Something told me it was time for some paintball.

**A/N**

**Late update is late! I promise that the next one will be up MUCH sooner.**

**Ciao!~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Majorly lied in the last Author's Note. I haven't worked on this for nearly five months (it will be two more days' time). Without further wait, enjoy.**

"Alright, we'll split into groups." Michael states as we head into a clearing. "Rules haven't changed, last team standing wins. Julie, what have the Italies decided on?" Julie looks up, appearing to be a little confused. Dumb bitch, oh but I shouldn't say that, it's not nice. Screw being not nice. I think to myself as I tell my conscious to shut up. Hey, at least I didn't say it out loud.

"Ve, we decided to sit this one out." They all hold up white kerchiefs and turn to look expectantly at me. "Aren't you going to join us Bella?"

"Undetermined can choose for themselves." James says right behind me, catching me off guard.

"CHIGI!" My hands slam over my mouth and all at once everyone shoots their gaze my way. One of the Japan girls steps forward. She had long, raven black hair cut straight on the ends and emotionless brown eyes which seemed to look right through me but at me at the same time.

She takes out a hair pin and points it at me. A moment later it extends into a short katana. "Kimi wait." Michael says, stepping forward.

"I suggest you prepare your weapons. I believe we're about to be surrounded." She says, her voice somewhat flat.

"No time for that chaps." A familiar voice rings out. Twisting my hat twice I heft my twin pistols and look around for Laura.

"But we'll spare the pretty new girl if she agrees to go on a date with me." My eyes roll involuntarily as I hear the head of the America house, John.

"Swell, who would want to go on a date with a git like you." Laura shoots back. By now I had started to edge away from the clearing. Just a little more and I'd be concealed by Hawaiian foliage.

"Sounds likes someone's a little jealous, non?" Celeste adds in. "I know, I'll take her on a date myself. We'll have dinner, go on a romantic walk on one of ze beaches, and when we come back I'll make love to her so much she won't be able to think straight." Rolling backwards I land in my desired bush and start crawling away.

"You have no chance frog, besides she looked mighty interested in that James bloke." Laura adds.

"The fuck?" I mutter.

"Hey, that reminds me, where is the cutie? Maybe she's part England! Especially if she can do bogey magic to make herself disappear." John quips and a moment later Laura tackles him to the ground, nearly crushing me. Two thumps later and they're shoulders are covered in red paint.

"McLain, Morris, you're out." Romano's voice comes in from hidden speakers. The both curse and turn towards me. I in turn flip over to see James just lowering an assault rifle.

"Why you!" Celeste yells as she pops up behind him, getting ready to shoot. Thinking fast I lift both hands and start shooting. Only after she shouted for me to stop shooting did I actually let go of the triggers. She was covered with red paint, it dripped from everything, even her hair.

"Blier, out." Shots echo from around the clearing after Romano calls Celeste out. "Aumont, Lenoir, Vartan, Bale, Felton, Laurel, Reed, Wyeth, Waters, and Foster, you're out for the Allies side. All Italies," Here he paused then added a small sigh. "Surrendered, and Yukio, Esaki, Shigeho, Masao, and Kenji are out on the Axis side."

Laura sighs and hauls John up from the floor. "Well, looks like I'm out of soldiers and you're half dead America. How many more people do you have John?" Apparently they must have forgotten about us seeing as they weren't paying us any attention.

"Only three. Hopefully they get new girl out soon, I want more time to flirt with her." Laura sighs then directs his gaze over at us by tugging on his chin.

"Doubt she wants you now due to how she's positioned with the other unclaimed." Glancing up I realize I had my arms on either side of James head, since the idiot didn't move for me to get a clear shot at Celeste and he had his legs in between mine. Before I can explode on him he scoots back.

Letting out a loud scream I slam my hands together, incidentally turning my gun back into its first form. I could feel my mind go into full panic mode as it processed that I just might have been sexually molested. Good thing I was somewhat of a rational thinker and knew that this wasn't the case. But my shrill scream did alert the other team to my position.

A moment later I feel myself being hefted into the air. "Don't question me now Bella, just shoot." James says as I open my eyes. Just as I did movement in the corner of my eye makes me pull the trigger, unleashing a wall of red paint on anyone or anything that revealed itself. Several screams and yelps later a buzzer sounds and James drops me back on the floor. "There, that wasn't so bad now was it?" He says, walking away and dusting his hands off.

As I stalk past him I hit him lightly with the butt of my gun. Well, lightly for me. As we walked back indoors Sam runs up, grabs me around the waist, and swings me skyward. All of our 'fallen' comrades cheered. Well, all of the ones with blue paint, a few were splattered with red and looked quiet sullen. Michael walks up to me with a slight smile. "Yata, we finally did it. The Axis side finally one a match as full axis."

"Michael, don't!" Julie squeaks from where she was sitting. She quickly runs over to him and gives him a pout. "You know what happens when you call someone one of the Axis descendants straight out."

"All I remember is being scared into not saying things. I'm tired of being scared, I'm a man, not a rabbit. And we know of only one country that says 'Chigi'. It's obvious Bella is a daughter of South Italy." The room goes instantly quiet and all the 'Axis' people look at the floor. The 'Allied' people looked at me, a few with mixed emotions but most with hostility. Other nation children who had filled into the room to congratulate the Axis team looked to each other.

A lone pair of clapping hands makes everyone look over to the open doorway. Romano leaned in the frame, slowly clapping. A quick glance at Michael made me instantly think of him as a rabbit. His eyes were wide and he shook like a leaf in the wind.

"Don't be alarmed Esaki, although I do suppose I'm something to be feared outside of the war zone. But why should I eliminate you for speaking the truth. Bella Gerhardt, I claim you as my daughter, and rightful head of the South Italy house." Light swarms up from the floor, bathing me in the colors of dark forest green, pristine white, and a red the shade of fresh blood. When the light faded and I had a chance to look at the faces in the room I realized something, a feeling I had never fully known.

I was completely, and utterly alone. Accompanied with this feeling was an overwhelming sense of unbelonging. I looked at these people and knew one thing. I was unwanted and that I would always be second best.

"Ah, looks like I've been put in a rough situation. Romano does like doing these things to me I suppose." All heads turn to look at someone who was standing right in the place Romano had been a few moments before. He was taller, with a sun-kissed tan, dark brown curly hair, and laughing green eyes. "Hola, while things are being taken care of with Romano I will be taking over for him, you can call me Spain."

**Oh noes, what happened to Romano! Guess you'll find out next chapter. And no, I'm not saying when it comes out so ya'll have to suffer!**

**Ciao!~**


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